As Mavs try to wrap title, James says he's focused

MIAMI (AP) — The hammer Dirk Nowitzki is so close to escaping is pounding away harder than ever at LeBron James.

The Dallas Mavericks are a victory from claiming the NBA title that James came to Miami to win. It would forever alter Nowitzki's reputation, which has already been elevated enormously during these finals as he's ignored injury and illness.

And James is now the target of all the criticism Nowitzki long endured, the one shouldering most of the blame as things go wrong.

"That's just a part of the game if you're the star or the face of the franchise," Nowitzki said on Saturday. "If you win, it's great for you, and everybody looks at you. And if you lose, you're going to get hammered. It's just part of the business. I think we understand that, we've been around long enough. I got the hammer the last 13 years, basically. So hopefully this year I can make the hammering go away for a year."

He has two shots at it. The Mavericks can win their first title on Sunday, or Tuesday if the Miami Heat force a seventh game.

That would require a stronger effort from James, who this time a year ago was coming off his second straight MVP award and was three weeks from becoming among the most sought-after free agents in NBA history.

Now he's the guy who can't produce in the fourth quarters, with 11 total points in five games, the one with the big name but the puny stats who had to spend part of his off day answering all sorts of questions about what's happened to him.

—Are those 44 minutes per game you're playing too much?

"I wouldn't say it's too much. I don't think so," James said. "I don't feel like I'm hurting my team for the time I'm out there. I don't feel like it's too much."

—Is something wrong with your shot technique?

"At this point, I don't think technique has anything to do with it," James said. "Shots go in, shots don't go in. I don't stop to think about my technique or anything like that."

—Are you simply feeling the pressure of the finals stage?

"I think the game of basketball can be pressure," James said. "It doesn't matter if it's the finals or the conference finals or first round. Playoff basketball is all about pressure, how you can handle it."

James did allow that perhaps he hasn't been as aggressive in the fourth quarter because Dwyane Wade has been playing so well. Wade is averaging 28.4 points — 11 more than James, who also trails Chris Bosh.

"He's one of the best players in the world," Wade said. "So we're not necessarily concerned about him to that extent. I want him to play and feel confident."

James noted that he did have a triple-double last game, but even with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, he said, "I had a bad game in a lot of people's eyes. I understand that."

Nowitzki knows the feeling. He has been the lone big star on a Dallas team that's won 50 games for 11 straight seasons, yet he's known best for his failures: The collapse after a 2-0 lead over Miami in the 2006 finals, the first-round loss to eighth-seeded Golden State in the first round the next year after winning 67 games.

He was tagged as soft — a label many European players receive — and given derisive nicknames such as No-win-ski or No-ring-ski. But he showed plenty of toughness on Saturday when he fired back at Wade and James after they appeared to be mocking his recent illness on a video that made the rounds Friday.

Nowitzki called it "a little childish, a little ignorant," but denied that it would give him any added motivation to claim the ring he's been chasing for 13 years.

"We're one win away from my dream, what I've worked on for half my life," Nowitzki said. "This is really all I'm worried about, this is all I'm focusing on, and not really the off-the-court stuff that happened."

James and Wade downplayed the video, but even if their intentions weren't malicious, it gave Heat haters yet another reason to dislike the team that already provided so many from the moment they came together last summer.

Though they took less money than allowable, the James-Wade-Bosh union left little room to fill out the lower half of the roster. That didn't matter earlier in the playoffs, when the trio played well enough to win with whatever support it got. Now James is well below his usual, Bosh is shooting just 37 percent, and the Mavericks' superior depth is helping them pull out close games at the end.

"They've been able to do it better than us in three of the games, but we feel very confident coming home and being able to do the things we've been successful at, particularly closing," coach Erik Spoelstra said.

___

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Don't touch that!; Why do we keep treating kids like adults -- and grown-ups like children?

Yes, I promised to ignore the Punch and Judy presidential primaryshow.

But my God . . . when the Clinton campaign tries to portrayBarack Obama as a drug dealer, it's time for people of good will toshake off indifference and hoot them down.

"The Republicans are not going to give up without a fight," saidBill Shaheen, who is not some envelope-stuffer, but co-chairman forthe Clinton campaign in New Hampshire. "One of the things they'recertainly going to jump on is his drug use."

Among the questions Shaheen told the Washington Post thatRepublicans might bring up about Obama -- while disingenuouslyraising them himself -- was: "Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Didyou sell them to anyone?' "

That's vile. Obama's discussion of his youthful past was candidand refreshing, particularly compared with the deceitful "I didn'tinhale" spin Bill Clinton put on his own indulgences.

The easiest way to grasp the sheer hypocrisy of Shaheen's attackis to apply the same logic to his cause. If the measure ofDemocratic candidates is how Republicans might twist their records,then Obama would have to have sold heroin to schoolchildren beforehe could reach the level of infamy that Hillary -- serial murderer,unconvicted felon and Lady Macbeth rolled into one -- merits inRepublican eyes.

The Clinton campaign can apologize from now until Election Day ordoomsday. They've revealed who they are.

- - -

We are a nation that treats children like grown-ups whileinfantalizing adults.

Thus we view 6-year-olds playing doctor as sex offenders, and putout signs like the one on a baby grand piano at the East Bank Club:

"Please Do Not Play the Piano."

Perhaps a few of the hyper-focused, undernourished go-gettersmaniacally flailing away at the exercise machines paused to settheir sinewy bottoms on the piano bench before pounding out a fewbars of "Rhapsody in Blue," and it got annoying.

But I doubt it.

My bet is, the sign was put there as a precaution by someoneforgetting that anybody mature enough to pay their club dues surelyknows how to treat a piano.

Myself, if I ran a really expensive club and decided to stick apiano in the hall in advance of "We Appreciate Our Members (So LongAs They Don't Touch the Piano) Night," I would take a differentapproach. My sign would read:

"Please Feel Free to Play the Piano (Tenderly)."

- - -

FLASH! HACK FEELS COMPASSION! . . .

Christmas must nearly be upon us because anthracite hearts aresoftening.

I usually blow past the old, possibly blind man wearingsunglasses and a large wooden crucifix around his neck. His signreads, "CAN YOU FEEL JESUS IN YOUR HEART?" or some such thing, andsince my answer is a resounding "Not a chance!" I never give him anickel.

He sits, under a lap rug, at the southwest corner of the MadisonStreet bridge. But Thursday, he was standing -- I've never seen himstand -- and ringing a brass schoolhouse bell.

I still blew by him, but smiled, inwardly, feeling a pang ofsolidarity and thinking, "In these rapidly deteriorating economictimes, we in the communications business need to adapt to get ourmessages out, if that means pumping up the online or ringing abell."

I slowed. If it works for him, maybe it'll work for me. By mid-bridge, I had stopped, spun around and headed back, unbuttoning myBurberry to fish out a buck.

It's that time of year, and even if you don't normally give, youshould give because 2008 is going to be a very bumpy ride, and younever know whether you, too, will have your hand out by the end,hoping against hope that somebody feels something in his heart.

. . . and so can you!

Speaking of giving, I've been resisting the urge to tell thisstory for years now because it's embarrassing. But since it mighthelp others, I will accept the momentary humiliation and pass italong.

I'm a guy who eats out a lot in fancy restaurants. My idea offun. It breaks up the day and injects a note of urban elegance intomy otherwise shabby suburban existence.

As a regular customer, I get to know the various maitre d's.We're friendly. We chat.

It was at a popular downtown spot -- I'm going to draw the veil,so as to not embarrass them -- and the maitre d', whom I'll callSally, had found a table for me, even though there were no tables tobe found.

Escorted to my seat, I glanced back at my pal, Sally, who likesme so much and helped her friend out. There was something in herexpression -- a weariness -- as she walked back to the crowdeddoorway to cope with the other customers pouring in.

And then it struck me. This is her job. My considering her afriend was a tribute to her art. This was her job, and I should tipher.

On my way out, I folded a bill into my palm -- I like to think itwas a $20, but maybe it was a $10 -- and almost apologizing,extended my hand. I was worried she would refuse, insulted. Inreality, the bill vanished from my hand so quickly, I glanced downto make sure I still had all my fingers.

It's the holidays -- those bartenders, waiters, hostesses,busboys, doormen and all the others in your life, being so good atwhat they do, they make you so comfortable you forget that they'reworking. Don't. Give 'em a tip. They deserve it, for convincing ahaughty, hurried, overpaid, corporate sack of arrogance likeyourself that they actually like you. It's an art form and deservesreward.

Today's chuckle . . .

FROM BARRY CRIMMINS:

There's a nickel's worth of difference between Democrats andRepublicans. If you put a nickel on the table, a Democrat will stealit from you, and a Republican will kill you for it.

India: Apparel Exports Flattening

After a relatively satisfactory performance in the first half of 2003, i.e., January-June, apparel exports started sliding. There was a decline in july. Figures for August have come in and exports to quota countries are down 5.75% in value and 9.28% in volume. While the value declined from US$331.9 million to US$$312.8 million, the volume was down from 81.9 million to 74.3 million units. Though there had been reasonable growth in the first five months of the current fiscal year (April-August), it is clear that SARS did have an effect on India's exports.

These figures include exports to quota restricted countries only, but non-quota exports have been sliding for several years now, and the overall picture is likely to be less encouraging than the quota export scenario.

Exports of all textile products including cotton yarn, fabrics and made-ups, besides synthetic and blended textiles and readymade garments, as well as handlooms, declined by about 2.93% in the three month period April-June 2003, to US$2,551 million. The overall scenario raises serious questions about competitiveness in the quota-free environment due on January 1, 2005. While the textile industry may not face severe problems in a quota-free environment, the apparel industry may undergo some serious crisis.

Mozart's music can be found in abundance on compact disc

The brevity of the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)was clearly a tragedy. And yet, in the few years he was allotted,his music moved from that of precocious prodigy to sublime genius,leaving behind a body of work without equal for inspired quality andvitality.

The bicentennial of Mozart's death will be observed all of 1991by every musical organization in the world. The largest reflectionof the composer's compositional riches and the continuing popularityof his music will be found at New York's Lincoln Center, where eachof the 11 constituent organizations will perform every note of musicMozart composed that has survived.

Probably no other composer could sustain such performing,critical and public scrutiny.

There no longer is a shortage of recordings of Mozart's music inevery form. Recent compact disc issues include a pleasant surpriseor two and some modest disappointments.

The happiest surprise for this fanatical admirer was adelightful Telarc recording of five of what might be called Mozart's"middle period" symphonies, those numbered 19 through 23.

These works may lack the depth of the late works more generallyheard, but in performances of romping virtuosity and elan by thePrague Chamber Orchestra under Sir Charles Mackerras, they leap fromthe speakers with boundless joy. Great fun.

Something of a disappointment was a new Chandos releasefeaturing the complete Church Sonatas for Organ and Orchestra withYuli Turovsky leading the excellent I Musici de Montreal.

Anyone who remembers the exhilarating performances RCA recordedwith the late E. Power Biggs and Arthur Fiedler in a rare and winningfling at the classical repertoire knows how delicious these 17miniatures can be.

If one dislikes the pipe organ, these beautiful stringperformances have a certain charm. The record jacket hides thesoloist's name in fine print - she is Genevieve Soly - just as theconductor covers her musically. Only in the big Sonata in C Major,K. 336, can the keyboard be heard properly.

The musicians clearly had it in them to do justice to thesonatas, but performance or recording ideas defeated them.

No one surpasses Robert Shaw in the great choral literature, andhis former Atlanta Symphony and Chorus may be heard in another Telarcdisc in a good-old-fashioned, big-hearted performance of the MozartRequiem, in the Franz Beyer cleanup of the traditional versioncompleted by the composer's pupil Franz Xaver Sussmayr.

Having sung the Sussmayr version with Bruno Walter (whoseromantic conception is echoed in Shaw's) and not feeling that all thefuss by scholars diminished the impact of one of the glories ofsacred choral literature, I'm happy with Shaw's choice.

Shaw's great massed forces are strongly assisted by a splendidquartet including Arlene Auger, Delores Ziegler, Jerry Hadley and TomKrause. Ziegler is the first mezzo I can recall to really hold herown in a generally unrewarding assignment.

The recording is nearly three years old, but only now came to myattention and surely is the best performance using contemporaryinstruments and their welcome warmth.

Virgin Classics has recorded two of Mozart's greatest pianoconcerti: the 23rd in A Major and the 21st in C Major.

Jean-Bernard Pommier is the pianist and conductor of SinfoniaVarsovia. The solid and stylish performances do justice to themusic, and the Polish recording was made just a year ago inBydgoszcz.

Recording in the less exotic setting of the State University ofNew York at Purchase, Deutsche Grammophon presents the conductorlessOrpheus Chamber Orchestra with Susan Palma as flute soloist in theFirst Concerto, K. 313, and the K. 315 Andante for Flute andOrchestra. Nancy Allen joins for the delightful Concerto for Flute,Harp and Orchestra.

Whigham's hits keep on coming

Veteran Larry Whigham was the starting free safety in practiceWednesday morning.

The Bears benched rookie Bobby Gray for the start of Friday's gameagainst the Jacksonville Jaguars (7 p.m., Ch. 2, 780-AM) to get MikeGreen the time he needs at strong safety before the season begins.With Mike Brown out for the exhibition season with a broken finger onhis right hand, Green has been playing free while Gray has beenimpressive at strong.

Now Green will play the position he is slated for Sept. 8 againstthe Minnesota Vikings, and Whigham will get some more exposure.Surely, Whigham must be the biggest free safety in the league.

Two-hundred and 13 pounds this morning," …

Werder's Mertesacker may miss UEFA Cup final

Werder Bremen central defender Per Mertesacker may miss the UEFA Cup final against Shakhtar Donetsk after damaging ligaments in his right foot.

Werder will also be without playmaker Diego and striker Hugo Almeida who are banned for the May 20 match in Istanbul because of accumulated yellow cards. Both were booked in the 3-2 win over Hamburger SV in Thursday's semifinal.

Mertesacker was injured in a first-half tackle by Hamburg striker Ivica Olic. The defender played on but limped off the field in the second half.

"We have to wait and be patient," Werder's coach Thomas Schaaf said Friday. "We hope that he can still return this season."

Werder is also in the German Cup final against Bayer Leverkusen to be played May 30 in Berlin.

On Sunday, Werder and Hamburg clash again, for the fourth time in 19 days, when they play in the Bundesliga.

Werder eliminated Hamburg from the German Cup semifinals and if it wins again Sunday at home, it will likely end Hamburg's chances of winning the Bundesliga. Hamburg is five points behind leader Wolfsburg, with four games to play.

Top US, China diplomats work to smooth relations

The top U.S. and Chinese diplomats are working Wednesday to keep a confrontation between American and Chinese naval vessels from damaging a relationship that President Barack Obama's new administration deems crucial to confronting the world's toughest crises.

Even if diplomatic efforts by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi are successful in toning down the dispute, however, they may ease anger only temporarily over a larger military disagreement.

Beijing has long complained about U.S. surveillance operations around China's borders. Without better communications between the two militaries as they operate in the South China Sea, the possibility for future conflict will remain.

Clinton and Yang "can have a productive exchange to keep this bounded, but the real bureaucracies that need to be there aren't going to be at the meeting," said Jonathan Pollack, professor of Asian studies at the U.S. Naval War College.

He suggested that without stronger military-to-military links, the potential for "something ugly" happening "should not be minimized."

China says a U.S. Navy mapping ship confronted by Chinese vessels Sunday was operating illegally in China's exclusive economic zone. The United States says Chinese ships surrounded and harassed the Navy vessel in international waters in the South China Sea.

U.S. defense officials said Tuesday that the Navy ship was looking for threats such as submarines, presumably Chinese. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the ship's exact capabilities are sensitive. Other U.S. officials have said publicly that the United States will continue to patrol in the South China Sea despite Chinese objections.

On Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry in Beijing reiterated that the U.S. claims are "gravely in contravention of the facts and unacceptable to China."

China views almost the entirety of the South China Sea as its territory.

Also Tuesday, U.S. National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told lawmakers that the incident was the most serious episode between the two nations since 2001, when China forced the landing of a U.S. spy plane and seized the crew. Blair said the confrontation indicated that China is willing to flex its military might.

The Clinton-Yang meeting Wednesday was meant originally to build on goodwill established during Clinton's visit to China last month. Yang also was scheduled to meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and with White House officials, the State Department said.

Clinton, during her China trip, impressed Beijing officials by listening to China's concerns, pledging not to let human rights differences interfere with attempts to cooperate on broader issues and generally working to lay a foundation for a positive relationship between the two powers.

An indication of the sensitivity involved in the complex relationship arose Tuesday, the 50th anniversary of the 1959 failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule that resulted in the flight into India by the Dalai Lama, living god to Tibet's Buddhists, and his 80,000 followers.

Robert Wood, acting spokesman at the U.S. State Department, issued a statement Tuesday night noting the anniversary and treading softly on differences it shows between the United States and China.

"The United States respects the territorial integrity of the People's Republic of China and considers Tibet to be part of China," Woods' statement said. "At the same time, we are deeply concerned by the human rights situation in Tibetan areas."

The weekend naval incident comes as the Obama administration tries to get Chinese help on a host of foreign policy matters, including efforts to confront Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs.

Last year, China canceled or suspended nearly a dozen military exchanges with the United States, infuriated by a $6.5 billion U.S. arms sale to rival Taiwan.

Talks resumed when Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for East Asia David Sedney met late last month in Beijing with high-level People's Liberation Army officials.

Bonnie Glaser, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the immediate goal for Clinton and Yang is to underscore the importance of the relationship and ease tensions before Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao meet in early April.

Sunday's incident, she said, is part of "an ongoing push and pull between the Chinese and the U.S." over American surveillance.

Both sides need to find a solution that allows them to "have rules of the road, safe means of operations that are agreed upon so that we don't end up with an accident that gets escalated," Glaser said. "These things can often be difficult to defuse."

___

Associated Press writers Anne Gearan and Pamela Hess contributed to this report.